InfoWorld: 20 years of innovative Windows malware

Ingenuity to nefarious ends: The evolution of groundbreaking Windows malware sheds light on what's to come

By Woody Leonhard
February 28, 2011

Windows PCs have been under siege for 20 years. What a difference those two decades make.

Back when Windows was young, viruses scampered from system to system, occasionally deleting files -- which could almost always be retrieved -- and putting up dialog boxes with inscrutable contents, like the numeral 1. Nowadays, Windows malware locks up your data and holds it for ransom. It manipulates your PC into launching attacks, mines files for credit card numbers and passwords, and sets nuclear centrifuges to whirl with wild abandon -- nasty stuff.

Along the way, Windows malware has spawned several billion-dollar antivirus companies, inspired enough articles to fill the Library of Alexandria, created jobs for many tens of thousands of security professionals, and caused more than half a billion king-size headaches.

These pesky programs didn't morph from toddler to kickfighter overnight. There's been a clear succession, with the means, methods, and goals changing definitively over time. As with any technology, innovative thinking points the way forward. Here's a look at how ingenuity to nefarious ends has transformed Windows hacking into a multi-billion-dollar industry, and where the Windows mailware trail points to the future.

Click the URL above to read the full article